Education First, Then Babies

Study finds women are having their first children at an older age to complete schooling

by Lesley Kennedy • MORE.com Reporter

Sorry, sweetie. Babies will have to wait. I’m studying.

Wonder why women are waiting until they’re older to have kids these days? A new study says it’s because they’re taking time to further their education—at least in England and France, the website ScienceBlog.com reports.

“Later childbearing has been a major feature of fertility trends in recent decades, both in Britain and other developed countries,” Professor Ní Bhrolcháin says, according to the site. “… The data we have examined shows that in the past several decades, young people have been starting their full adult lives around two years later on average than in the recent past, and this has meant family life starting later, too.”

The average age at which women have their first baby is 27, according to 2004 data—three years older than the average age in 1974, ScienceBlog notes.